Fired
by Flavvie Phantomfag
Summary: When Spain refuses to join the Axis, despite his boss's orders, he gets fired. As he goes to Italy, he meets up with an old friend who decides to help him out.


"For the last time, I will not join your Axis!" Spain glared impatiently at Germany as he recited this line once more. _The nerve of these people_, he thought to himself. _Just because I'm fascist doesn't mean I'm going to go charging blindly into some crazy plot to conquer the world_. Of course, Germany didn't understand that.

"Come on Spain, we're way more powerful than those pathetic democracies that call themselves the Allies. If you join me, then together we will unite the Earth under one supreme Axis: the Rome, Tokyo, Berlin, Madrid Axis will be an unstoppable force of victory. We've already beaten Poland and France, and the conquest of Britain is just a short distance away."

"I already said no, and that's final!"

"Don't be such a fool! We've proved that we can win this war, and I'm generously offering you a chance to get in on it! If you refuse, we will take over the world anyway, and you will simply remain a tiny European province on the Mediterranean."

"I am not going to be a part of one of your hair brained world conquest scemes, Germany! Remember last time?"

"Fine," Germany said in resignation, "then we will continue on without you." With that, the tall, blonde haired nation turned around and stalked out of sight.

_Ah, that's better_, Spain thought as he went back inside his house. Now I can just sit back and relax as the world powers tear each other to shreds.

* * *

Romano picked lazily at his pasta as he sat in a small restaurant in southern Italy. He was extremely bored. As exciting as it is to have a world war being fought around you, Romano simply couldn't get into it. All he was now was a province under the control of Italy, the most cowardly of the Axis nations.

_Why couldn't I control this country, _he complained to himself, not for the first time. _That damn Veneziano doesn't know what he's doing. If I were in control, we would be powerful, feared among all the other nations, and we most certainly wouldn't be in this stupid war. _He sighed to himself. _Well that's never going to happen._

It was so annoying to simply be a province, and not an independent nation. Everyone else looked down on him, and he had no say in anything. Even Italy rarely listened to him.

He thought back to the days when he was part of Spain. That was a time when he had truly been happy. Sure, he had constantly been making messes and causing trouble, but for some reason Spain kept forgiving him, and soon they had started to feel attached to one another. Spain had really cared about him, so he tried his best to please him. But then one day, Spain had left him.

He forced himself to stop thinking about the subject. All that was behind him now, Spain had left him, and now he was just part of Italy.

* * *

"What do you mean I should join the Axis?" Spain shouted in confusion, "You just told me I should remain neutral, and I've spent all day turning down various requests from Germany, and now you're changing your mind?" He glared furiously at his and slammed his fists onto his desk.

"Calm yourself Antonio," his boss said, raising his hand. "I have looked carefully at the situation, and decided that the Axis will undoubtedly be able to conquer Europe, and if we join them, we can share in the spoils of war."

"But what about the debt?" Spain argued, "There's no way we can fight a war with this bad of an economy!"

"I'm sure that we'll be able to manage at least long enough to start taking money from the nations we conquer," his boss countered.

"But are you really sure the Axis can win this? It's only a matter of time before America joins the war, and the new German boss is very anti-communist, so war with Russia will probably occur too. As much success as the Axis have been having, I'm not so sure they can keep it up, especially with Italy constantly being in need of rescue."

"Stop worrying about it. Don't you think I would have looked into everything before making my decision? Currently, joining the war is the best thing we can do for you to become a great world power once more."

"I cannot do it," Spain stated. "I am far too weak to fight. If I join the war I shall simply end up getting beaten up by Britain, Russia, and America. I have no wish for this to happen to me."

"Very well," his boss said ominously, "so be it. If you will not follow my orders and bring yourself back into greatness, I'll just find someone who can. Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, you're fired. You no longer bear the title of 'Spain.' Now, leave this country and never return."

Antonio stared at his boss in shock, unable to move or say anything. Getting fired was practically unheard of, but there he was, suddenly without a job and no longer an independent nation. After getting over his initial shock, he turned around and left the room wordlessly.

As he walked through the streets of what was once his capital, he averted his eyes to avoid seeing any of his former citizens or national symbols. He tried to avoid thinking as he walked, but his brain swirled with thoughts of revenge anyway. He thought of killing his boss, destroying his capital, stealing what was left of the national treasury. Of course, he knew he couldn't bring himself to cause any harm to his former nation, so he simply got on a boat and set sail for Italy.

* * *

Romano groaned when he heard the knock on his door. It was probably Italy coming to talk to him about something he didn't care about and wouldn't pay any attention to. "Go away you damn jerk!" He shouted through the closed door.

"So it is you," the other person replied in a voice he was not expecting.

"Spain? What are you doing here?" Romano asked as he opened the door.

"No," Spain said gloomily, remaining outside, "not Spain. I was fired. Now I'm just plain old Antonio Fernandez Carriedo."

"Fired?" Romano exclaimed in surprise, "What did you do?"

"I refused to join the Axis, I'm not strong enough to fight any wars."

"Ah. The bastard seriously fired you for not being powerful enough to join the Axis?"

"Yep," Antonio sighed. "So, I was wondering if I could stay at your place, at least 'til I figure out what to do."

"What?" Romano seemed confused. "You're just going to give up? That's not like you Spain! Remember that time when you rescued me from Ottoman Empire?"

"No," Antonio explained, "that was different. In that situation... well... you were in danger. I couldn't let you get taken by anyone."

"Oh," Romano said, not expecting that response, "well thanks for that then. Still, I know you can be very brave and powerful. You should go back there and take back your nation!"

"You don't understand, do you? I was a different person back then. I was once very rich and powerful, but I have seriously declined since then. I doubt if I could pose any sort of challenge."

"Then I'll come with you," Romano said, much to Antonio's surprise. "I've got nothing much to do anyway, and I've always wanted to fight by your side."

"No!" Antonio immediately protested, "It's dangerous! You could get killed."

Romano chuckled before replying, "I can take care of myself you know! I'm not powerless, you jerk." Antonio didn't really believe him. After all, he was Italy's brother, and he'd spent most of his life as a territory in a different nation. Sensing his doubt, Romano continued, "I was never really a very good servant when I was a part of your empire, but you still protected me from everyone else. I just want to return the favor."

Antonio, who truthfully had known from the beginning that he'd eventually accept the offer, finally agreed. "Why not?" He said, "I need my country back, and we'll make a great team." With that the two ex-nations set sail for Spain.

Once they had reached the Iberian peninsula, they marched purposefully all the way to Madrid, and once they got there they wasted no time in challenging Antonio's former boss. "I'm back," Antonio proclaimed, staring his former boss in the eye, "and I've come to reclaim this nation."

His boss raised his eyebrows. "But I thought you said you didn't have the strength to fight," he said. "Oh, I see. You brought help. Romano, eh?"

"Yes," Romano said, "that is my name. Now give Spain his country back you bastard, or I'll rip your damn throat out!"

"I'd like to see you try," the new Spain challenged, drawing a rapier. Romano and Antonio both drew rapiers of their own. Soon the two Spaniards and the Italians were engaged in a fierce fencing duel. Spain's old boss was good, but no one can out fence an Italian, so soon they had beaten him. Spain turned to give some kind of victory speech, but Romano stabbed the defeated boss before he could even open his mouth.

"We did it!" Spain proclaimed, "Thanks Romano, you were really helpful..."

"Well don't get used to it jerk!"

"You haven't really been acting like your usual rude, unhelpful self. What's going on?"

"Er... well... like I said, I just wanted to repay you for everything you've done for me. I was really bored anyway. I guess I'll just be leaving now."

"Hold up," Spain said, raising his hand. Romano turned back to face him. "You should stay for awhile, there's something I want to do for you."

"Please don't, I don't want to owe you any more favors."

"I insist. Just consider it a parting gift." Before Romano could protest, Spain pulled him for kiss. He had always wanted to do this, but had never quite worked up the courage to until this moment. To his surprise, Romano didn't pull away, but seemed to enjoy it just as much, if not more, than he did.

When this happy moment finally came to an end, neither of them had anything to say to each other. They simply sat in the courtyard next to the corpse of Spain's boss kissing again and again while Spain pulled Romano's curl.


End file.
